The 'Body Politic' of the Mexican Ex-Voto:  Gender, Race and Class Dimensions of 20^th Century Ex-Votos

 

Figure 1. Damos Gracias al Santo Nino de Atocha, porque nuestra hija, hasta caminando y  mi señor, salvarse de una grave operación. 1977.

We give thanks to the Santo Nino de Atocha, because our daughter, with you at her side, survived a grave operation. 1977.  

Introduction  - Historical Context and Contemporary practice

This paper is based on an analysis of data from an ethnographic study that investigates the “body politic” of representations of gender, race and class in 20th Century health-related Mexican ex-voto retablos.  Ex-voto retablos are small paintings depicting a “miraculous event” in which a saint cures, rescues or otherwise aids the supplicant; thousands of these paintings are found placed on or near the image of key saints in chapels, shrines and basilicas throughout central-western Mexico.  A syncretic practice derived from both European and Indigenous traditions, 20^th century ex-voto retablos are made by anonymous popular artists who are commissioned by the recipient of the miracle to make the painting; once completed, the retablo is taken to the holy site or shrine where the saint resides.  At the individual level, the popular practice of offering retablos in return for receiving saintly intercession is central to both the healing process and to expressions of religious faith.  At the level of society, the retablo it is also a reflection of the “body politic” – social and political ills, hopes and concerns - of Mexican society. 

Major pilgrimage sites (Figure 2) and saints are located along the Camino Real in Central Mexico, and include: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Mexico City; El Señor de Chalma in the State of Mexico; Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio in Cerro de la Bufa, Zacatecas; Nuestra Señora de Ocotlán in Tlaxcala; San Juan de los Lagos in Jalisco; and Santo Niño de Atocha in Fresnillo, Zacatecas.  

Figure 2. Camino Real

 While the retablo practice blends Catholic and Indigenous elements, the Indigenous aspects of the ex-voto practice are embedded within in larger practices and events that take place at the pilgrimage sites, such as the following:

Figure 3. Aztec ceremonies in the Chalma church plaza on Sunday (Estado de Mexico)

 

Figure 4. Indigenous sawdust ‘cross’ in church plaza (at Chalma, Estado de Mexico)

 

Figure 5. Ahuehuete Tree and sacred stream at Chalma, Estado de Mexico

 

Figure 6. Seed Murals at entryway to the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Natividad in  Tepotzlan, Morelos

 

 

Figure 7. Traditional herbal remedies, Milagros of silver at Patzcuaro in Michoacan

 The production of ex-voto paintings in Mexico stems from the colonial period.  However, the practice of offering an ex-voto painting to a Catholic Saint or member of the Holy Family in colonial America was preceded by a similar practice of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico and Latin America, who had a long tradition of placing votive offerings at sacred sites in supplication and honor of their Indigenous deities (Egan 10).  Over time, the ancient Indigenous votive traditions combined with elements of the European Christian faith to produce a unique form of popular “ex-voto” art inspired by the religious and cultural sentiments of the Mexican people.

            The development of this distinctly unique object of popular art stemmed from the fusion of religion and art that was central to the Colonial project of converting the Indigenous peoples into ‘good Catholic citizens’ of Colonial America.  Gloria Giffords  (Giffords 1974) explains that “art and religion were inseparable in Latin America, especially during the colonial era...From the introduction of the new faith, the Mexican people were, and continue to be, surrounded with [visual] reminders of the involvement of the Catholic religion in every aspect of their existence (3)”.  The Friars who began the process of converting the non-literate Indigenous people into Catholics recognized the value of the visual symbols of Christianity as an effective way to promote belief.   Giffords explains that:

Catholic theologians...developed the idea that the illiterate needed images to assist them in comprehending the divine mysteries because they could not read...[and that] images and devotional objects would help people contemplate the divine and teach the true faith, since not everyone can approach God through the intellect...it was felt that most Christians needed the visual world to move toward that which cannot be seen.”  (4)

             In order to generate visual symbols that were accessible to laypersons, small prints done from wood blocks, etchings, engravings, and lithographs were imported into Mexico by the millions.  In addition, images from illustrations in religious texts were copied and produced for individual distribution.   Such images “were frequently referred to as aids in missionary activities (Giffords 6-7)”.  These images were a crucial aspect to the development of the popular practice of creating ex-voto offerings.  The images of saints and the Holy Family embodied the myths of the supernatural and sacred powers attributed to the divine. 

The ability to possess and understand the sacred image enabled the viewer to access the divine world of the supernatural deity.  In “Myths, Rites, Symbols:  A Mircea Eliade Reader”, Beane and Doty  (Beane and Doty 1976) state that “myths describe the various and sometimes dramatic breakthrough of the sacred (or the “supernatural”) into the World...  [Therefore], knowing the origin of an object, an animal, a plant, and so on is equivalent to acquiring a magical power over them by which they can be controlled, multiplied, or reproduced at will (3-5)”.  The representation of Christianity’s sacred beings in the ex-voto painting is a method by which the viewer (or creator) of the ex-voto can “own” the supernatural powers of those divine beings.  When it comes to milagros de salud, or healing miracles (and other miraculous events). in the lives of the common person, the ex-voto painting represents an integral element in the healing process.  The ex-voto painting combines elements from the sacred and secular world, re-creating the healing event as a meeting ground of the mundane and the divine.  Through the ex-voto painting, “the protagonists of the myth [of Christianity] are made present, one becomes their contemporary (Beane and Doty 7)” and the impossible becomes possible. 

Here, I argue that the popular practice of offering retablos in return for receiving saintly intercession can only be understood if located within its historical and contemporary context and is central to both the healing process and to expressions of religious faith.  At the level of society, the retablo it is also a reflection of the “body politic” – social and political ills, hopes and concerns - of Mexican society. 

Research Methods: Structure of the Project

There are two data sets for the project: 1) Approximately 300 digital ex-voto retablo images (dating from 1797-2006) from collections in museums, the internet, and photographs taken at shrines, and 2) Ethnographic data gathered from participant observation at pilgrimage sites (1997-2010).  Analysis of the ex-voto retablo itself entails coding and quantifying (using SPSS and Excel) images and textual data for themes based on gender race and class.  Participant observation and social mapping - provides additional information about the socio-historical and political-economic contexts in which the retablo practice is embedded.  This paper is unique in that most studies of the modern and contemporary ex-voto or votive painting practices focus on the content of the paintings without linking such practices to the larger socio-historical context in which they are embedded. 

Findings and Significance of the Study

Much of the spiritual and religious aspects of healing have been divorced from modern healing modalities (i.e. biomedicine).  Some contemporary societies do, however, have deep-rooted traditions which link Catholic and Indigenous spiritual beliefs to health events and healing practices - the 20^th century Mexican ex-voto retablo is such an example.  Yet very little research into the social and health implications of Mexican ex-voto retablos has been done.  Existing literature highlights key “themes” depicted in retablos including, maritime activities, migration, agriculture, natural disasters, mining, travel, accidents, and surgery, war and politics, however to date no analysis exists of specifically health-related themes or of gender/race/class themes.  Previous research has also only superficially analyzed how gender, race and class are depicted in retablos.  The dearth of literature is remarkable considering the relevance of these social characteristics in my analysis.

The Body Politic of the Retablo – From Colonialization to Globalization

            The ex-voto painting stems from ancient human practices of offering the gods images of cured persons or body parts, or of the gods themselves, in return for divine intervention.  Martha Egan  (Egan 1991) states that “tradition, archeological evidence, and written accounts indicate that the custom of milagros or similar votive offerings is an ancient one in the Mediterranean and was common not only among pre-Christian Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, and Iberians, but also among Visigoths, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Celts, Minoans, Teutons and other peoples (10)”.  Durand and Massey (Durand and Massey 1995) add that “votive practices were [also] well known in Mesoamerica before the conquest (12)”.  Throughout history, the practice of offering votive images has provided a key meeting ground for humans and their gods, fulfilling a deep human need for divine intervention in the secular world (Durand and Massey 6-9).  The production of the ex-voto painting emerged from these traditions during the 1700’s when European colonists settled permanently in the Americas.[1]

            During the monastic and vice-regal periods of settlement in Mexico, the images of Catholic saints and the holy family were superimposed over existing images of the pagan Indigenous gods (Giffords 19) and the production of religious images, or retablos, depicting Catholic saints became common.  These images had immense popular appeal and were produced in large numbers by Mexican popular artisans who copied the etchings, woodcuts and engravings of Catholic saints imported from Europe (Giffords 32).  Many retablos of saints were made on inexpensive materials such as tin or wood so that the poor could afford them.  The ex-voto prototype originated as a criollo upper-middle class practice of commissioning a painting which included an image of a saint with the criollo and his family to ensure the saint’s protection and intercession.  This practice evolved into the production of ex-votos that were more dynamic in their imagery and that included descriptive text.   The characteristics of the early ex-voto suggest its criollo origins:  The clothing depicted is “upper class” and European in style; the text is in Spanish; the rooms and accouterments depicted reveal a certain level of affluence; and the figures are light-skinned and have European features (Durand & Massey 14-15).  However, as the popular classes began to desire and produce forms of art, the ex-voto painting became more commonly commissioned and painted by Mexico’s mestizo and Indigenous populations.   As the ex-voto painting became more popular among the working class and poor populations, the wealthy abandoned the practice:  

A genre of didactic religious painting originally imported by European priests for evangelical purposes was transformed into an Indigenous votive practice by criollo colonists...  [and] was then appropriated by middle and lower class mestizos... (Durand and Massey 16).

             Throughout Mexico’s independence and revolutionary periods the popular practice of commissioning ex-voto paintings evolved to express the desires of the working class and poor to create a votive object which would ensure health, fertility and abundance for themselves and their families (Giffords 42). 

Elements and Purpose of the Ex-voto painting

            The ex-voto painting is the visual depiction of a miraculous event in which the intercession of a saint is requested and granted.  The painting is created by an artist contracted by the supplicant, who describes the events he or she experienced.  Once the image has been created, it is carried to a shrine or church where it is placed near the saints’ image.  The purpose of the ex-voto painting is to commemorate recovery from illness or grave danger and to ensure the continued protection and intercession of the patron saint.  It is a “payment” to the saint for a spiritual or physical miracle.  Even though many of the painters of past and present ex-votos were untrained artists, careful analysis of their work yields an identifiable set of devices and traits. The ex-voto image usually contains three elements:  1) The holy image of the saint (or saints), usually depicted in the upper portion of the painting; 2) A depiction of the miraculous event which includes an image of the supplicant and other involved parties; and 3) The text which explains the event, names the saint and expresses the pious appreciation of the supplicant.

            The ex-voto painting “permitted the introduction of new visual elements into the votive tradition - human action, divine images and a textual explanation of events (Durand and Massey 10).”  The elements are arranged to form an account of a miraculous event which evokes extremely intimate and personal feelings on behalf of the viewer.  The images created by ex-voto paintings are a dynamic representation of the collective “hopes and fears, thoughts, lives and experiences” (Giffords 124) of the Mexican people. 

Symbols and Healing:

The Etiology and Cure of Disease in Mexico

            The connection between the healing event and the supernatural powers attributed to the images of divine personages represented in ex-votos lies in socio-cultural beliefs about the role of emotions in the etiology and cure of many illnesses.  For example, Kaja Finkler  (Finkler 1994) explains how “…anger is probably the most widely attributed general explanation for sickness...  Anger is felt in the entire body and if often accompanied by “nerves.”  Nerves pertains to a state of being, associated with anger and a variety of physical symptomatologies... experienced in the whole physical makeup...  Along with anger and nerves, fright (susto) is etiologically significant.  Sudden fright produces jabbing in the heart or chest, fainting, bloating, dry mouth, high sugar levels or diabetes, miscarriages, and a variety of other symptoms (Finkler 79-80). Socio-cultural beliefs about health and illness link physical and emotional “pathogens” to produces an understanding of illness which goes beyond the purely biological.  Consequently, many Mexicans often rely on a combination of Western bio-medicine and traditional Indigenous healing techniques to treat illness and disease. 

Conflicts often arise between these two methods because the Western medical model of healing separates the mind from the body and focuses on the physical aspects of illness, disease and healing.  Daniel E. Moerman suggests that the dualism of the mind and body can be resolved through the use of symbols.  The diagnosis and treatment of an illness or disease by a patient or a healer is rooted in the understanding of widely shared symbolic norms about what constitutes, or causes, the illness or disease.  These “symbols”, which include cultural and religious metaphors, are integral for the treatment of illness and facilitate the connections between the mental and the physical in a process we call healing (Moerman135-139).  For individuals living in the Mexican culture the symbolic representation of the healing event as seen through the ex-voto painting resolves the conflict between the mental (or spiritual) and the physical by incorporating belief in the supernatural powers of saints and deity’s into the healing process. 

The Ex-voto and Milagros de Salud:  Art as Integral to Healing

            The process of healing encompasses more than the physical act of cells repairing, bones mending or the immune system fighting off an infection.  Healing is an event, or series of events, in which cultural and spiritual beliefs intersect with health care beliefs and practices.  Yet “modern” Western medicine has traditionally focused exclusively on the physical, ignoring important socio-cultural beliefs and practices which aid, or detract from, the process of healing.  The ex-voto is a visual representation of the incorporation of physical with metaphysical, or supernatural, and as such is a potent catalyst and affirmation of the healing process for many of the Mexican culture. 

            The typical ex-voto incorporates the three core elements of the ex-voto tradition.  First, the placement of a saint(s) across the top right portion of the painting; in relation to the other elements of the ex-voto is a crucial device used by untrained artists to manipulate space in order to underscore the drama of the events and heighten the emotional intensity of the miraculous moment.  Second, the placement of the main characters of the event directly underneath the saints’ images reinforces the relationship between the secular and the sacred.  Again, the distortion of space emphasizes the emotional intensity and drama of the scene:  “The deliberate, self conscious manipulation of space..., scale and proportion...[and the] juxtaposition of tiny human figures with larger-than-life holy images (Durand & Massey 25)” reinforces the helpless nature of humans and the power of the divine figure in causing the miraculous healing event.   In addition, the ex-voto often manipulates time; the saint is pictured on the left side of the ex-voto during the illness, and again on the right as the patient gives thanks for her recovery.  “Events that occurred sequentially are broken down into representative instants and shown simultaneously...Actions occurring before, during, and after the miracle are shuffled and recombined for maximum psychological effect (Durand & Massey,26)”.  The reconstruction and condensation of time also reinforces the dramatic intensity and power of the miracle.  In addition, the use of bold, bright colors augments the impact of the ex-voto upon the viewer’s emotions and visual senses. 

The third element, the use of written text on the bottom portion of the ex-voto, is the most important aspect of the personification of this art form.  The explanatory text names the supplicant and other involved parties and specifies the nature of the illness and the healing miracle in an extremely personal and intimate manner.  The text further emphasizes and solidifies the relationship between the supplicant and the holy images by naming the images and describing the miraculous intervention of the saints which caused the healing event.  The power of such images is amplified when viewing the ex-voto painting in its final resting place.  The shrines and holy places at which ex-voto paintings are placed as the final act of gratitude by the supplicant often contain hundreds of such images.  The ritual of placing the ex-voto at the shrine includes the opportunity to witness the countless other miracles of health and thanksgiving experienced by thousands of other individuals. 

The collective display of so many ex-votos representing so many miraculous events is powerful testimony to the “joys celebrations, sufferings, illnesses, disgraces, enmities, losses and tragedies of the human condition (Durand & Massey 62)”.  In addition, it is important to recognize that these images represent one of the few ways that common people can safely give expression to their “anxieties, needs, fears and sufferings...  [Ex-votos] are thus a catharsis, a personal testimony, a confession, or an expression of gratitude or remorse that would otherwise be difficult to articulate publicly (Durand & Massey 62)”.  As such, they represent an integral element to the healing of the mind, body and spirit of many people, past and present, within the Mexican culture. 

Content Analysis of 300 Ex-Votos: The Body Politic

Given women’s role as the primary caretakers of the household, it is not surprising that women are ‘majority’ (50%) of supplicants featured in retablos, whereas men are the majority (46.4%) of recipients (Table 1).  

Table 1: Gender of Supplicant and Recipient
Supplicant	Frequency	Percent
Male	62	36.9
Female	84	50
Mixed	22	13.1
Total	168	100
Recipient
Male	77	46.4
Female	68	41
Mixed	17	10.2
Total	166	100

Interestingly, the vast majority of retablos are commissioned for oneself (52%), followed by couples/family (approximately 25%) (Table 2).  Given that most retablos are commissioned by women for themselves, the majority deal with themes (Table 3) directly connected to health concerns, including: recovering from a grave illness or operation (51%; Figure 8), avoiding or recovering from an accident or natural disaster (19%; Figure 9) and children’s illness (7%; Figure 10) or childbirth itself (7%; Figure 11).  

Table 2: Relationships of Supplicant and Recipient
	N	Valid Percent
Self	81	52.3
Couples	21	13.5
Family	15	9.7
Mother-Son	12	7.7
Mother-Daughter	10	6.5
Father-Daughter	4	2.6
Father-Son	3	1.9
Siblings	4	2.6
Friends	3	1.9
Godmother-Godson	1	.6
Unknown	1	.6
Total	155	100

 

Table 3:  Health Themes
Theme		Frequency	Percent
Grave Illness/Operation		88	51.46
Recover/Avoid Accident or Natural Disaster		32	18.71
Child’s Health/Illness		12	7.02
Childbirth		6	3.51
Total		138	80.7
Favors Granted: Misc		33	19.3

 The fact that so many women were responsible for commissioning ex-votos is testimony to the traditional role women have for maintaining the health of their families in both physical and spiritual terms.  Not only do women provide the first line of defense for in-home health care, but many also take responsibility for ensuring that acts of healing are properly appreciated in terms of cultural and religious practices.  It is interesting to note that Durand and Massey identify medical problems as the largest category of subjects for supplication, and that the “covert message” of ex-votos (in particular the recent ones) is testimony to the frightening lack of adequate medical attention for poor and working class Mexicanos (74).  

Table 4: “Favors Granted”
Favor Type		Frequency	Percentage
Favor		6	3.51
Prosperity		5	2.92
Saving livestock		4	2.34
Travel/weather/attack		3	1.75
Convert Natives		1	.59
Military-Revolution/draft		4	2.34
Avoid shame from jail/crime		6	3.51
Relationship Success/Affair		4	2.34
Total		33	19.3

 Approximately 19% of retablos were also commissioned for “favors granted” (Table 4).  “Favors” - which range from giving thanks for prosperity (Figure 12), saving livestock (Figure 13), surviving travel (weather/attack; Figure 14), surviving the Revolution (Figure 15), avoiding jail (Figure 16) and relationship success (Figure 17) – tend to be representative of two primary human concerns: work and relationships. Below are images (with translations provided) that represent each of categorical themes identified among the data set:

Figure 8: Grave Illness/operation – kidney transplant

 

Figure 9: Recover/avoid Accident or Natural Disaster

-- de Octubre de 1924 al --– el campo el union de mi familia, fui atropeado por un Ford que --- En el momento me invoque de corazon el Sr de Chalma la Stma Virgen de Guadalupe y Quede Sano y salvo este retablo lo dedico– Paulino Guerrero.

---of October of 1924 --- to the country to meet my family I was hit by a Ford that---- At that moment I invoked with all my heart the Sr. De Chalma Stma Virgen de Guadalupe and I was saved and left healthy. To her I dedicate this retablo - Paulino Guerrero.

Figure 10: Child’s Health/Illness

En Sentimiento de gratitud a la Imagen del Santo Nino de Atocha por ayudar a salir con bien al pequeña Francisco Javier de una operación de los pulmones y permitirle seguir viviendo. Sra. Soledad Gutiérrez.  10 de octubre 1976.  Zacatecas.

 With gratitude to Saint Nino de Atocha for delivering baby Francisco safely through pulmonary surgery and allowing him to live. 10 of October, 1976.  Sra. Soledad Gutiérrez.  Zacatecas.

 

 

Figure 11: Childbirth

Habiendose encontrado la Sra. Margarita Mendoza en el margen de la muerte a causa de un parto teniendo como consecuencia una emorrajia por lo cual mirando su madre que ya la enferma estaba muerta, la Sr. Madre se la encomando a la Virgen de San Juan de los Lagos con el presente --- patente su promesa del caso ocurrido en 1966.  Silao, Gto. 24 de Julio de 1967.

 With Señora Margarita Mendoza being found on the border of death by reason of a childbirth that had, as a consequence, a hemorrhage; with her mother seeing that the sick woman was already dead, commended her to the most holy Virgen of San Juan de los Lagos. With this present retablo, she makes clear her promise in this case that happened in 1966. Silao, Guanajuato, 24 July 1967.

 

Figure 12: Prosperity

Señora Sara Sanchez and her husband, Señor Joaquín García, their three daughters, and their young goatherd give infinite thanks to Saint Francis of Assisi. For all these goods that, through his intercession, God Our Lord has given to them. And thus they ask him. Their house, their herd of 90 head, their oxen, their cows, their pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and the goatherd’s little dog, and many things more. For this they beseech the Lord that he bless them and that they might increase and that nothing may ever be lacking for them. Rancho San Ignacio de T.N.L. October 4, 1963.

 

Figure 13: Saving Farm Animals

I give thanks to God and to Saint Francis for the miracle of saving my animals. I dedicate this memorial in thanks. Francisco Robledo Espinoza, San Miguel de Aguirre.

 

Figure 14: Travel/Weather

En el ano de 1897 venia Pedro Martines con su familia en un barco del Puerto de Veracruz y encontrecio que como alas ---de la noche del dia 10 de Marzo del mismo – iva a naufragear la embarcacion por --- Martines y su familia hagandose --- a la milagrosa imagen del Sr. del ---.

In 1897 Pedro Martines came with his family in a ship from the Port of Veracrus and finding like wings --- the night of the 10th of March of the same --- the boat was going to be shipwrecked by --- Martines and his family becoming – the miraculous image of the Sr. of----

 

Figure 15: Surviving War/Revolution

In the year of 1907, during the revolution, the family of Marcelo Bernal was living on the Rancho Volenos. The fighting became fierce so the wife prayed and nothing happened to them. In memory of this great miracle this retablo was presented in February of 1920.

 

Figure 16: Avoiding Jail

En el Ano de 1887 a 2 de  Nobiembre le acontecio la desgracia a Yrineo Gaytan que enctontrandose preso en la Carcel de la Villa de Lord—Su mama Maria Dolores Aldaba adboco con beras de su Corazon a Senor San Francisco de Pauda que su hijo tubiera su Libertad quien se lo – y en recompense de este Milagro le dedica el Presente Retablo.

In 1887 on the 2nd of November misfortune befell Yrineo Gaytan who found himself imprisoned in the jai lof the Villa of the Lord – His mother Maria Dolores Aldaba invoked with all her heart the Sr. San Francisco de Pauda that her son had his freedom, who is – in reward for this miracle I dedícate this retablo.

 

Figure 17: Relationship Success

"San Judas Tadeo, I give you thanks for freeing me from a difficult situation and giving me time to hide so my friend did not find me with his wife in his bed. He never found out. I'm hoping not to return, but the flesh is weak.  

The Political Economy of Retablos

The “racial” and “class” elements of the retablo itself are often ambiguous but become clear when situating the retablo within the larger social context of its final resting place.  It is only by viewing the retablo within the larger socio-geographical context that it becomes possible to understand the “political economy” of the retablo art form.  For example, pilgrims are usually from rural areas and/or small towns and are largely working class; this is not immediately evident in the subject matter of retablo paintings because the supplicants are often depicted as more upwardly mobile than they really are.  A visit to any pilgrimage site reveals that the vast majority of people at the site at any given time – whether they are pilgrims or vendors – do not match up to the representation of class or ethnicity (in terms of dress, phenotype, language, etc.) within the retablo painting(s).  As may be expected from the content of retablos, the majority of pilgrims are women and children and the elderly, however a significant number of men –both young and old- do participate in this practice (Figure 19, 20).

A symbiotic relationship exists between the pilgrims and the vendors that proliferate at each site.  Pilgrims, many of whom travel on foot long distances (Figure 18), purchase the goods of vendors selling food, lodging, and religious artifacts and thereby support a burgeoning informal economy (Figures 21, 22).  The precarious nature of this relationship became obvious at Chalma, where a bypass road was built, allowing travelers to avoid the vendors and slow traffic along the main road.  This increased the flow of traffic, but at the expense of the local informal economy.  The eventual outcome at Chalma favored the vendors, as a storm followed by a flood of mud and rocks ultimately blocked the bypass road and traffic was once again forced to pass by the main pilgrimage site. 

Figure 18: Pilgrims at Chalma

 

Figure 19:  Pilgrims at Fresnillo

 

Figure 20:  Pilgrims at Fresnillo

 

Figure 21: Vendors at Fresnillo

 

Figure 22: Vendor in traffic at Chalma

 

The cultural consumption of the Retablo as a collectible

Given its popular nature, the retablo is highly collectible and there are several significant museum (and private) collections (Table 6).  The retablo in both its contemporary and traditional forms became even more popular as Latin@ artists integrated aspects of the art form into their own work.  Frida Khalo in particular is known for use of the retablo format in her art; Khalo and her husband Diego Rivera amassed one of the most extensive private retablo collections, displayed on the walls of the stairway in the Blue House in Coyoacan.  Other private collectors have managed to purchase old (and now valuable) retablos via the internet on such sites as Etsy and E-bay among others and private dealers (Table 5), some of whom have “recovered” retablos from pilgrimage sites.  Indeed, currently, there is a growing “black market” in recovered retablos, as evidenced by numerous websites that sell such items at prices much greater than the original cost. 

Table 5:  The “black market” in the collection and sale of retablos on the internet

•      Bazaar Sabado/retail: https://www.bazaarsabado.com/en/home/373-exvoto-agave-con-mano.html •      Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/521748560/antique-1913-mexican-1913-ex-voto?ref=pla_similar_listing_top-2&frs=1 •      Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/b/Ex-Voto-In-Collectible-Mexican-Folk-Art/149367/bn_7022310425 •      Private Gallery: http://kalarte.com/latin/retablo/retablo.html •      Private Gallery: https://marciaweberartobjects.com/artists/ex-votos-mexican-folk-art/ •      Private Gallery: https://oaxacaculture.com/2017/08/mexican-folk-art-for-sale-vintage-and-reproduction-ex-votos/ •      Private Gallery: https://www.pinkpampas.com/product/authentic-mexican-ex-voto-6/ •      Private Gallery: https://colonialarts.com/collections/retablos

 

Table 6:  Museum Collections

∙ Vincent Price Art Museum: https://vincentpriceartmuseum.org/exhibitions_ex-votos-retablos.html ∙El Paso Museum of Art: https://epma.art/art/exhibitions/joy-and-suffering-mexican-folk-retablos-from-the-permanent-collection ∙Mexico State University:  https://wordpress.nmsu.edu/ezarur/

 The rationalization of collectors and sellers for “recovering” retablos (with or without authorization) from pilgrimage sites is that the retablos are left to the elements (such as wasp nests, bird guano, wind/rain, etc.) and that there are so many left at sites that it is impossible to display them all properly (see Figure 23 below).  Given the cultural value in preserving this popular art form, there is certainly a need to more systematically preserve, catalogue and display retablos at major pilgrimage sites.

 

Figure 23: Retablos stored haphazardly in Fresnillo, Zacatecas

 

The Ex-voto as a Fusion of Fine and Popular Art

            The popular appeal that the ex-voto painting has for many Mexicans was not lost or ignored by Mexican fine artists.  Elements of the ex-voto art form have been successfully incorporated into contemporary art by both provincial and trained artists in an attempt to move away from the “elitist overtones of paintings in oil on canvas, or perhaps more straightforwardly, simply to try and capture the sense of exuberance [exhibited by popular art]  (Baddeley and Fraser 1989, 120)”.  The ex-voto art form influenced such Mexican artists as Hermenegildo Bustos, Jose Guadalupe Posada, Angel Zarraga, Jose Maria Estrada and Diego Rivera, all of whom incorporated elements of the ex-voto art form into at least several of their works.  Perhaps the person most famous for utilizing the popular ex-voto format, however, has been Frida Kahlo.  In terms of representing the subject of health, the work of Frida Kahlo is an extremely important testimony to the power of the votive image in communicating both personal and popular sentiments towards health, illness and healing. 

            Beginning in 1932, Frida Kahlo began to use the small format metal panels common to ex-votos for many of her paintings.  Adopting the primitive popular style of painting had several advantages for Frida.  Hayden Herrera  (Herrera 1983) explains the appeal of the ex-voto style for Frida Kahlo:

Besides reaffirming her commitment to Mexico’s Indigenous culture, it was, in a sense, a leftist political statement, for it expressed her feeling of solidarity with the masses.  Adapting a popular art style also coincided with Frida’s finely wrought self-image.  Like her costumes, Mexican popular art is full of festive color and alegria, and like her life, it is often theatrical and bloody...The popular art manner undercuts, and simultaneously underscores, the impact of horrific images - images that the example of popular art emboldened her to present, allow[ing] her both to display, and to mask and mock, the intimate torments of the self (223).

             The first painting Frida Kahlo produced in the ex-voto style depicted the tragic end of her second pregnancy with Diego Rivera’s child in a miscarriage.  Due to a horrific accident in which her reproductive organs and lower extremities suffered great damage, Frida Kahlo could not carry a fetus to term.  The anguish and despair she felt is conveyed in Henry Ford Hospital (see Figure 24).  

Figure 24:  Henry Ford Hospital, 1932, Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907-1954)

 Herrera states that Henry Ford Hospital was, “the first painting Frida did on sheet metal, the first work from her hand that is clearly modeled on Mexican votive paintings in style, subject, and scale... As in [ex-votos] the drawing is naively painstaking, the color choices are odd, the perspective is awkward, space is reduced to a rudimentary stage, and action is condensed to highlights.  Adherence to appearances is less important than the dramatization of the ghastly event... (Herrera, 151)”. 

In contrast to the ex-voto painting, the images of saints and billowing clouds have been replaced by extremely detailed graphic representations of Frida’s miscarriage.  The painting shows her lying on a hospital bed which is far too big in relation to her body.  Over her body, she holds umbilical-like red cords with six objects tied at the end - symbols of her sexuality and failed pregnancy.  One ribbon is attached to a male fetus, a representation of the little “Dieguito” whom she hoped she would be able to carry to term  (Kettenmann 1999, 33).  According to Frida Kahlo herself, the snail represents the “slow course of the miscarriage” (Kettenman, 33).  Andrea Kettenman adds that “the snail also appears in other of her works as a symbol of vitality and sexuality.  Its protective housing led Indian cultures to see the snail as a symbol of conception, pregnancy and birth... [and] it is linked with the waxing and waning of the moon, which in turn stands for the female cycle and thus female sexuality (34)”. 

The salmon-pink torso on a pedestal, according to Frida Kahlo, is an explanation of the insides of a woman and the process of conception;  several sperm-like organisms appear on the torso’s surface (Herrera, 144).  The two spinal columns in the torso represent Frida’s injured and deformed backbone.  On the lower right Frida has depicted an anatomically correct illustration of pelvic bones, representing the fact that Frida’s own pelvic bones were the principal cause of the miscarriage (Herrera, 144).  The purple orchid was reputedly brought to her by Diego Rivera and is a symbol of sexuality and emotions (Kettenman, 34).  Herrera also points out that the “lurid lavender orchid, with its projecting stem, looks like an extracted uterus (145)”. 

The meaning of the piece of machinery is somewhat ambiguous. Kettenman states that “it probably represents part of a steam sterilizer, as employed in hospitals in those days...  Frida Kahlo may have seen a parallel between this sealing mechanism and her own “faulty” muscles, which prevented her from keeping the child in her womb (34)”.  Herrera adds that “Frida herself told one friend that the machine was meant to remind her of Diego, and to another she said that she had “invented [it] to explain the mechanical part of the whole business (144-145)”. 

            In this painting Frida Kahlo’s painful miscarriage takes the place of the miraculous event often depicted in the traditional ex-voto painting.  The significance of the subject with regard to the process of Frida’s physical and spiritual healing is tremendous.  Frida conveys the dramatic intensity of the event using the traditional ex-voto techniques, manipulating scale and proportion and juxtaposing her tiny figure with the symbols of her anguish.  Frida’s hospital bed is placed on an immense barren plain, emphasizing the solitude and loneliness she felt in the Detroit hospital, far away from her family and home in Mexico.  The horizon depicts the Rouge River complex where Diego was working during the time of her hospital stay.  The faraway buildings emphasize the loneliness and isolation from everyday life that Frida must have felt.  “Her desolation is underscored by the disjunctive scale - she looks tiny in relation to the bed - and by the way the bed is tipped up and drawn in an intentionally incorrect perspective (Herrera 145)”. 

In contrast to the brutally realistic depiction of her miscarriage, Frida Kahlo uses the bright, festive colors common to works of popular art, the ex-voto painting in particular, to “mask and mock” her personal pain and devastation.  Frida does not include an inscription to describe the events surrounding her miscarriage, however, “[she] makes reference to such votive inscriptions in the date and place of events given on the sides of the bed (Kettenman, 35)”.  Using a technique characteristic of Mexican ex-voto painters, Kahlo extracts and re-integrates important elements of her experience into a powerful climax that speaks for itself.  The significance of this painting for Frida Kahlo, however, is not to supplicate or thank a higher power for a healing miracle.  Rather, the process of re-representing the traumatic events of her miscarriage serve as a catharsis to aid in the process of healing, both physically and spiritually from her ongoing health problems and personal devastation due to her inability to bear Diego Rivera’s child.  Kettenman adds that:

Even if the ex-voto elements of Henry Ford Hospital were not employed in their original spirit, the painting is nevertheless closely related to votive images.  This emerges most clearly, as in many other of her pictures, in its combination of biographical fact and fantasy.  Like the amateur painters of votive pictures, Frida Kahlo did not paint her reality as it was seen, but as she felt it.  The outside world is thereby reduced to its essentials, and a sequence of events condensed into a powerful climax (35). 

            The work of Frida Kahlo and popular ex-voto artists represents a vital expression of the Mexican culture.  The extremely personal nature of ex-voto images, as with many of Frida Kahlo’s paintings, provides the viewer with an immediate link to the existential nature of the human condition as experienced by many in Mexican society.  The re-representation of self and reality in connection with the greater-than-life symbols of sacred entities with supernatural powers is testimony to the hope and alegria that are a constant, even in the face of severe travesty and personal pain.  The rituals associated with the production of ex-voto paintings give the common person an opportunity to express their pain and resolve issues of great spiritual significance in a non-threatening, personally empowering manner.  The endurance of the ex-voto tradition from the 1700’s to the present and the use of the ex-voto form by many fine artists is testimony to the appeal this form of artistic expression has for people from both the popular and upper-middle class sectors of society.   

The growing body of literature and research on the subject of ex-voto paintings and a recent interest in the preservation and collection of ex-voto paintings from individuals outside the Mexican culture is evidence that these works of art have universal appeal.  However, very few artists who work in the traditional ex-voto format are in existence today, and many individuals rely on cheaper or more modern ways of showing their devotion.  The use of photographs, x-ray films, casts, and other personal objects can be seen in greater and greater numbers at shrines and pilgrimage sites in Mexico.  While these modern objects serve a similar purpose as the ex-voto painting, it remains to be seen if the ex-voto tradition will enter the 21st century.  However, given the age-old human need for divine intervention in the process of emotional, spiritual and physical healing, the tradition may yet survive for centuries albeit in altered form. 

Conclusion

In this paper I show that while the practice of offering votive paintings at pilgrimage sites in Mexico is deeply informed by the Colonization of the Americas and the historical syncretic co-evolution of European-Catholic and Pre-Colonial Indigenous religious and healing practices, the contemporary votive painting offers a re-affirmation of individual spiritual and medical empowerment in the face of Globalization and neoliberal economic and social policies that shift much of the burden of providing public welfare from the state to the citizen.  In the face of the expansion of neoliberal global capitalism, decreasing health care budgets and smaller social safety net in general for most citizens, the retablo practice shows the enduring importance of individual expressions of spiritual faith and empowerment in surviving and healing the somatic expressions of the wounds of colonization and globalization. 

 Bibliography

Baddeley, Oriana, and Valerie Fraser. Drawing the Line: Art and Cultural Identity in Contemporary Latin America . London: Verso, 1989.

Beane, Wendell C., and William G. Doty. Myths, Rites, Symbols: A Mircea Eliade Reader. United States: Harper & Row, 1976.

Durand, Jorge, and Douglas S. Massey. Miracles on the Border: Retablos of Mexican Migrants to the United States . Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995.

Egan, Martha. Mílagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1991.

Finkler, Kaja. Women in Pain Gender and Morbidity in Mexico. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.

Giffords, Gloria Fraser. Mexican Folk Retablos. Tucson: University of New Mexico Press, 1974.

Herrera, Hayden. Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo. United States: Harper and Row, 1983.

Kettenmann, Andrea. Kahlo . Taschen, 1999.

 

Additional Sources:

The Mexican Ex-Voto Tradition as a Potential Subversion of Authority (Dissertation) https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1519/

 

The Vivid Violence and Divine Healing of Ex-Voto Paintings

https://hyperallergic.com/334143/the-visualized-violence-and-divine-healing-of-the-ex-voto-painting/

 

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[1]  Durand and Massey agree that despite the fact that some scholars date the ex-voto tradition in the Americas from the early 1800’s, indirect evidence suggests ex-voto paintings began to be produced beginning in the 17th century. The earlier ex-votos did not survive due to their delicate nature and the fact that very few were considered fine art (13).